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Home/News/Adelayda's Path to Success Through Center for Family Opportunity

Adelayda's Path to Success Through Center for Family Opportunity

Every morning, Adelayda and her four children walk a block from their home to College View Elementary in southwest Denver. Once ranked among the lowest performing schools in the city, College View is now a thriving learning center for both children and adults. The community still faces challenges but through parent engagement and new support programs for adults, the school has become a bustling hub for education for all ages.

Bryan, one of Adelayda’s four sons, is starting sixth grade with dreams of becoming an engineer. Two years ago he participated in Mile High United Way’s Power Lunch program; in this program volunteers visit the classroom once a week to read with a third grader. Each week Rich, Bryan’s volunteer reading buddy came to College View Elementary to talk to and read with him one-on-one. While he may have been falling behind in reading when they started, Bryan quickly improved on his reading skills.

Bryan took the enthusiasm for reading he gained through Power Lunch home to his siblings and to his mother where the whole family became excited about learning.

Adelayda loved reading with her sons and was inspired to think about her own education. As a parent, she heard that College View Elementary had recently opened a Mile High United Way Center for Family Opportunity. The Center is a convenient location where families and individuals can access multiple, free services focused on supporting their long-term financial success. Mile High United Way Centers for Family Opportunity is an innovative approach to helping provide these services.

Participants receive unique support customized for their individual or family needs. Adelayda meets one-on-one with a financial coach who is helping her build a balanced household budget, pay off debt, save more and improve her credit score. She is also working on obtaining her GED certification. All of these services are available to her in her own neighborhood - the same trusted and familiar location where her children attend school.

“Being involved with the Center for Family Opportunity has helped me and my children hold each other accountable for our learning,” said Adelayda. “We spend more time reading. I know that my family will succeed if everyone is succeeding.”

Because of support like yours, close to 1,300 people like Adelayda have utilized services through Mile High United Way Centers for Family Opportunity. Families are actively seeking support for not just one need but for many of the factors that impact their success.